Demon Sword Maiden-Novel

Volume 4, Chapter 27 - Lake Biwa

Translator: Aoi

A pretty layer of snow had long covered Gifu by now.

However, the eldritch aura inside its castle tower was heavier than ever at this moment.

Momiji sat in the city lord’s seat and gazed at the vast snow-capped vista ahead of her from the tower’s front-facing terrace.

A commotion echoed across the stairs a few moments later, which was then followed by the aggressive invasion of a samurai group.

The one leading them was a full-bearded 30-year-old or so man who was almost 1.9 m tall. He wielded a tachi in one hand and pointed it at Momiji before asking Momiji a question, “Momiji! There’s a lot of suspicious circumstances regarding my father’s death under the mirror girl’s hands, and I should’ve been the one to succeed the position of Mino’s protector! I’ll never allow a witch like you to rebel and rob the land protected by my Ouchi clan for generations!”

This man was none other than Ouchi Koreyoshi’s son, Ouchi Yosh*tatsu.

Momiji, however, showed no fear towards the group of armored samurai who were pressing closer to her with katanas in hand and continued drinking the tea in a casual manner.

This indifferent attitude of hers, on the other hand, left the samurai at a loss momentarily.

“Sigh. It seems like you’ve misunderstood me, Lord Yosh*tatsu. I never intended to take over Mino. As Lord Koreyoshi is dead, all of Mino, be it whether the land, city, people, army or the wealth, is naturally yours to take. There’s no need to claim that I intend to rob them…” Momiji stood up and walked to Ouchi Yosh*tatsu’s side enchantingly before pulling his muscular arm and pressing her soft body against it while tiptoeing, “I, too, am yours. Why would I wish to rob the land and wealth that belongs to you?”

“What?” The full-bearded Yosh*tatsu’s body quivered in response to Momiji’s actions and her breath as well as her touch really made him feel weak all over.

…

Lily and Shimizu continued traveling forward according to the map after resting in the thatched hut for a night. As they had passed through a lot of trails, it also seemed that their pursuers had failed in catching up to them.

However, Lily was unaware that a battle for the right of inheritance had occurred in Mino, which made Momiji disinclined to pursue Lily and stop sending more pursuers since that night.

The weather was clear on this snowy day, so Lily summoned Yuki-Onna outside. Nanako also wanted to have some fun outside, but Kagura forced her to continue with her training.

“So, this is Yuki-Onna…” It was Shimizu’s first time seeing this shikigami from the legends. Although Yuki-Onna wasn’t that strong a monster, she was actually quite famous.

“Who are you and what’s your relationship with my Lily?” Yuki-Onna questioned intently. Lily had actually told her that she had been traveling with Shimizu for the past few days.

“What’s our relationship?” Shimizu chuckled devilishly. She hugged Lily’s arm and reached out to Lily’s belly before patting it gently, “You’ll have to ask that question to the baby inside Lily’s belly…”

“Huh? What do you mean?!” An intense snowstorm manifested around Yuki-Onna, “L-Lily! You’re already in such a relationship with this woman?! How dare you go back on our promise, you adulterous woman!”

Lily blushed hard, “W-We’re not in such a relationship! She didn’t mean that kind of baby!”

Lily and Shimizu had engaged in intimate contact in the past because Lily had hidden the ancient mirror in front of her underbelly. However, Shimizu had given a vague answer purposely to make Yuki-Onna misunderstand their relationship.

…

Nighttime, inside Gifu’s castle tower.

The 1.9 m tall Ouchi Yosh*tatsu sat on the castle lord’s seat, feeling pleased after obtaining what he wanted.

Lily had killed the Mino Triumvirate and caused Mino’s strength to diminish greatly. However…

Momiji still sat in the same position she held previously, which was the seat beside the current castle lord.

The retainers were all seated on either side of the duo.

“Should we pursue the mirror girl?” Yosh*tatsu asked.

“You don’t need to do that. The two of them must’ve fled a long distance by now since they are both transcendent samurai women,” Momiji added, “We almost caught the mirror girl and even made her drink the spring sake. However, we’ve also suffered huge losses as Lord Koreyoshi and the Mino Triumvirate lost their lives to the mirror girl’s hands resultantly. We’ve done our best.”

“But how can I just give up on avenging my father?!” Yosh*tatsu thundered.

“Milord, the mirror girl will probably be out of Mino soon, so it’s impossible for us to pursue her even if we want to. The mirror girl had raised a commotion in Mino and also caused chaos in Owari, so I suggest that we might as well annex Owari! After all, Shiba Yoshishige is a weak and incompetent man. As for vengeance, it wouldn’t take that much effort to achieve it and deal with a single samurai woman once you’ve amassed enough strength to become an overlord of this generation,” one of the retainers suggested.

“Shiba Yoshishige, huh? I’ve long had thoughts of going to Owari in the south. You’ve suggested a nice idea! Momiji, my dear, what do you think about it?”

Momiji answered shyly, “Lord Yosh*tatsu, it isn’t just you who wants to kill the mirror girl in this world. There’s someone waiting for the mirror girl’s arrival in Omi with the same purpose from what I know and he’s a powerful swordsman from Kansai’s Annihilation Dojo!”

“Annihilation Dojo?” Yosh*tatsu’s lips twitched, “The same dojo that trains their disciples with real blades from childhood?”

“Indeed. If you aren’t that fixated on obtaining vengeance personally, you might as well let this swordsman from the Annihilation Dojo achieve the feat of killing the mirror girl. You should focus on seizing this golden chance given by the Heavens and expand your power, isn’t that so?”

“It is as you say, my dear wife! You really live up to your fame as a noble woman with beauty and wisdom, Momiji! I can become the overlord of this generation with you assisting me! Hahahahaha!”

In this way, Mino had begun plotting to annex Owari secretly and renounced their pursuit of Lily. As for the news about Lily killing Viper and the Mino Triumvirate, it had also soon reached Kamakura and the other lands.

…

Lily and Shimizu traveled west through the snow-capped woods and then turned south.

After traveling for a whole week, they had finally reached a land where there was no snow. As the sun came out, the weather also began to warm up.

Although Omi didn’t have a favorable climate throughout the year, it was still much warmer than Mino.

Omi belonged to the eastern mountain region and this region was to the easternmost side of the Endless Demon Mountains. As such, Omi wasn’t actually a part of the Kanto region and wasn’t under Lord Kamakura’s control.

However, Omi was also pretty far from Kansai. Although it had a pleasant environment and had lush aquatic vegetation, it was a desolate land that even the imperial court had abandoned, causing it to almost become an ownerless land.

It was blessed with the seasons of summer and winter and even the spring season, which arrived a little early in this region. The woods were thus quite warm and sunny on this day.

Although the trees in these woods weren’t as tall and broad as the ones in the East, they were vivacious and pretty in shape.

“Sister Shimizu, don’t you feel it’s pretty hot today?”

Lily’s body sweated quite easily and also oozed warmth, so she was quite sensitive to the warm weather.

“Although it’s hot, it isn’t that hot. How about changing into a minidress if you hate the heat?” Shimizu suggested.

“It’s not that bad. I’m just saying that it’s hotter than two days ago…”

A bright light arrived from the woods ahead at this moment.

“W-What is that light, Sis?” Lily asked.

Shimizu also felt puzzled and wondered why there was golden light coming from the middle of the woods.

Lily and Shimizu continued walking forward as a refreshing breeze carrying the scent of aquatic plants blew towards them, giving them a pleasant sensation.

The duo sprinted forward enthusiastically while holding hands and actually found themselves outside of the woods.

“Crash!”

Lily felt like she heard the sounds of crashing waves.

After a momentary blindness caused by the overly bright light, the source of the golden light had finally reflected within Lily’s eyes.

It was a vast lake that spanned across the horizon and was as boundless as the ocean. It was diffused with the golden sunlight and seemed to glow in a golden color when seen from the dim woods.

The refreshing lake wind blew back Lily and Shimizu’s hair and also filled Lily with delight as it pervaded her body through her cleavage.

“I-Is this an ocean or a lake?”

“Lake Biwa, the largest lake in the Heian Empire, and also the prettiest one,” Shimizu stated.

The link between water and girls was an indisputable one and they felt a natural intimacy with it whenever they saw it.

The azure lake glistened with golden light and was surrounded by lush green woods and sky-dyed mountains.

The clouds in the skies were like cotton flowers in bloom while the shallow waters at the lakeside were full of aquatic plant life and cluttered limestones.

Flocks of white and black aquatic birds glided across the lakeside from time to time as well.

Lily and Shimizu remained silent and walked into this picturesque vista while holding hands.

Lake Biwa was like a piece of jade in these dark times of the Heian period, and a gem of a mirror.

The moment the duo arrived at the lake, it was like two pretty fairies descended into the picturesque vista and though there was no reason for it, their presence added a new vivaciousness to the vista.

Lily finally understood what it meant to be inside a picturesque vista.

The water and sky were the same color and blended at the blue horizon.

Presented with such a vista, Lily and Shimizu faced each other and felt an unspoken desire to meld even more intimately with the water of this heavenly lake.

The two slim and elegant girls arrived on a boulder beside the reeds and locked eyes with each other.

“Let’s do it for each other…”

“Mhm,” Shimizu mummed, and Lily nodded in response.

The two of them approached each other and stood side-by-side.

They then untied the bow at the back of each other’s kimono and pulled it in the opposite direction.

This counterforce caused the duo to spin, and the pretty sashes brimming with the pleasant scent of girls descended down like rainbows.

Lily and Shimizu now had their backs against each other with their sashes stripped and their kimonos slipped down their shoulders at almost the same time, revealing their skin outside.

They were naturally still clad in breast binders and underwear, both of which were white in color.

The duo possessed stunning bodies and looked spectacular from behind, Lily blessed with a willower elegance, and Shimizu blessed with a slimmer softness.

The duo descended down the boulder as if they were performing a ritual to meld with the world and stepped into the lake water with their bare feet and the rippling water soothed them.

Although Lily was pretty tall, she actually had quaint little feet that were hand-sized. As for Shimizu, there was no need to even say anything.

Lily and Shimizu walked deeper into the lake and felt the lake water cleanse their bodies.

The duo undid their breast binders silently once their breasts had submerged below the lake water and cleansed their bodies with the water, using it just like a towel, which wasn’t that much of an issue as it was all water.

Lily took out a small wooden box at this moment, “Sister Shimizu. This box contains the bath lotion that I found in the dressing room of the mirror space and it’s much better than the fruit-based lotion we bought in Kamakura. It feels much nicer to take a bath if you apply it on the body and the hair.”

“Thank you, lil’ sis. Let’s apply it to each other, okay?”

“H-Huh? There’s no need for that,” Lily blushed.

The duo thus turned around and applied the lotion on themselves.

The duo washed their hair diligently after washing their bodies and swam soothingly in the lake water for a long time after tossing their breast binders back to the lakeshore.

Lily felt like her body was melding with the world and felt her understanding of the world deepen a little because of the incredibly beautiful vista before her eyes.

The skies darkened gradually, and dense clouds covered the setting sun.

“Caw! Caw!”

A strange bird call arrived from the depths of the lakeshore and from its cries, it was clear that the bird was quite gigantic.

A cold and eldritch wind surged towards the lake from all sides as night descended.

However, Lily and Shimizu were in no state to battle right now.

“Let’s return to the shore, Sister Shimizu.”

“Mhm.”

The duo went ashore, and Lily shielded her breasts intently as they did so, after which she turned around and donned a clean set of purple-pink yukata.

“Take this yukata, Sister Shimizu,” Lily handed Shimizu a dark-blue yukata from the mirror space with her back still turned against Shimuzu.